A certain scientific Kugleblitz
by Panzer4life
Summary: Uiharu is a Level 1 esper who despite all her efforts can't ascend to greatness. But that changes when a certain character enters her life, and trains her to surpass all others.
1. Chapter 1

Foreword: I must say, I enjoy 'Toaru Majutsu no Index', and thus I am going to write my first fan-fiction ever for the series. With that said, a few warnings;

1: This is my first fan-fic, so please, no flaming. Constructive critisms is fine but not flaming.

2: I don't own Toaru Majutsu no Index, nor any of its characters.

3:There is no timely schedule for chapter releases, as my mood does affect my writing.

With this said, enjoy!

Chapter One: Rough Day

The day that Uiharu dreaded, Power Scan day. She knew what the result was going to be, as it was the same every time. She however looked down at her paper. It was a simple grade below the evaluation report; Level 1.

"Argh, not again," she muttered, sighing afterwards. She looked at the other marks. She was horrifically average in terms of grades, she can only maintain the temperature of objects, and she can't do anything but confirm she is an esper.

She saw her friend Saten approaching her. Saten had her black hair waving casually in the air, and she had a smile on her face.

"So Uiharu, anything new?" Saten asked, trying to crane her head to see Uiharu's evaluation report. Uiharu shook her head.

"No, still a Level 1, my ability hasn't improved." Uiharu looked at Saten, and instead of hiding her report, it was clearly in her hand. Before she could ask, Saten explain her joy.

"Guess what?! I am now Level 1!" Saten twirled in place, still smiling as though she won the lottery. Uiharu was happy for her friend, but still sadden by the fact that she was unable to move up. Saten however grabbed her arm.

"Lets see how Misaka and Shirai are doing!" Saten was leading Uiharu to the bus stop where they would get a ride to Tokiwadi Middle School.

"Ahh, that's good to hear!" said Misaka. Misaka was a Level 5 esper, and was known as 'Railgun'. But for her power, she was rather nice and even childish. "So what's your ability?" she asked. Saten found a leaf, and demonstated by having it do cartwheels in the air.

"It's called Aero Hand, buts it's only Level One, so leaves are about the only thing I can move," noted Saten. "But at least now I know I can get it higher, since Kongou is also an Aero Hand Esper!"

Kuroko looked miffed upon hearing this. The Pink hair teleporter had a long standing rivalry with Kongou, and hearing Saten looking up to her only added to this. She however turned to Uiharu.

"What about you Uiharu?' asked Kuroko. "Have you leveled up any?" Uiharu was hoping to let Saten have the spotlight, but fate had to be cruel.

"No, I am still only Level 1. Nothing I seem to do improves my Level or ability." The others tried not to say anything, as they didn't want to upset her. Uiharu saw their faces and knew this, so she changed subject.

"So anything new Misaka?" Uiharu asked, hoping to hear some good news. Misaka looked at her phone.

"Not really. Oh, we are supposed to be meeting a transfer student tomorrow. All I know is that she is at least Level 3, as per Tokiwadi's restriction on Espers who can come in." Uiharu sighed. The constant talk about Espers wasn't what she had in mind. But Kuroko intervened.

"Come on Uiharu, we are getting called to report to headquarters." Uiharu quickly got her badge on her arm, and both her and Kuroko teleported to the 177 district branch of Judgement.

Upon entering the headquarters, Uiharu noted a bunch of people, rushing around, looking more stressed then ever. Kuroko went up to Konori Mii, the branch's leading officer.

"What's the emergency?" asked Kuroko, who also noted the influx of foot traffic. Konori sighed. She appeared to be tired.

"Well, we are having a bit of a crisis as a number of Skill-Out gangs are rioting in the slums," she handed Kuroko and Uiharu a map. "these locations are seeing the most activity, and Anti-Skill are trying to ensure that no Espers tries to intervene. Otherwise we could see a nasty conflict. I need you and Uiharu to head to District 7, the site of the most activity." Kuroko acknowledged the order. Uiharu however was panicking, as she didn't fare well in conflict. But an order was an order, and so both her and Kuroko once again teleported.

"Hey, get those idiots!" yelled a member of Skill Out. They began to throw rocks at Uiharu, who was struggling not to get hit. Kuroko meanwhile was taking the time to pin down several members of the gang. However, Uiharu notice some members running to the roof tops, carrying what looked like Molotov Cocktails.

"Kuroko, on top!" she shouted. But Kuroko was too busy on the ground, as more and more Skill-Out members were arriving. Kuroko looked to Uiharu.

"Stop them yourself! I will try and keep these guys from interfering you!" she shouted. Uiharu then bolted to the door, and began using the stairs to catch up to the members with Molotov Cocktails. She finally reached to roof, only to be hit in the gut by a base ball bat. She saw a man standing over her, with a simple black leather jacket on.

"Hey, got a punk from Judgment here!" he shouted to his comrades. The other four men turned.

"Aww, she got flowers on her head. She a bit cute, shame we have to beat her up." Said one of the men. The one behind him smirked.

"Well, we can ransom her; maybe get something from those assholes from Judgment and Anti-Skill." The group laughed in unison, and Uiharu was left curled up, in pain. She then saw someone coming up the stairs. It was a girl, about the same age as Misaka, but with crimson red hair and blue eyes. She came up to the roof.

"Just what do you men think you are doing?" the girl asked. The men chuckled.

"Just who do you think you are? A self-righteous esper, and a punk from Judgment?" asked the man in leather. He came at her with the bat raised. "Don't think you are better than us!" However, before he made contact, he collapsed, shrieking in pain.

"My ears! What have you done you BITCH!?" The Other men readied their molotovs, but when they lit them, the bottles exploded, and engulfed them in flame. Uiharu could see the girl smile, and it sent chills down her spine. But the girl knelt down.

"You alright?" she asked. Uiharu tried to nod, but her in reality it was painful for her. The girl helped her up. "It's ok, rest up, those punks aren't going anywhere." Uiharu looked at the other members, and saw that despite being engulfed in flames, they were now fine, no longer on fire. The girl saw the look of confusion on Uiharu's face.

"What, you think I let them burn to death? Naw, I just let them burn a little to make them not to eager to hurt a girl again." She began to carry Uiharu down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs was Kuroko, along with other members of Judgement and Anti-Skill.

"Uiharu, are you okay?" asked Kuroko. She turned to the girl. "Thanks for helping my friend, but a civilian shouldn't get themselves involved in Judgment business." The girl shrugged.

"Meh, I was in the area and heard the commotion, and so I came. Not my fault you guys entered the hornet's nest." Kuroko was visibly annoyed with the response, but she was glad to see Uiharu was fine.

However, Uiharu was confused. Who was this girl, what did she do to take them all out, and why was she in the area? But she was tired, hurt, and didn't have enough energy to stay awake, so she fell asleep in the medical van, hoping that tomorrow would be much better.


	2. Chapter 2

**I thank anyone who has taken the time to read my story, please feel free to review the work or PM me for suggestions. I have no release schedule for updating the story with chapters, so they will come out when I get a good idea and flow for a chapter. Again, if you have any suggestions or advice, please PM me or leave a review.**

**As before, I don't own Index nor any of its characters.**

Chapter 2: A New friend

"Uiharu, are you ok?" Uiharu opened her eyes. She saw Saten, Misaka, and Kuroko sitting around her hospital bed. She got herself seated upright, clearing her eyes.

"How long was I out?" she asked, feeling groggy. Misaka looked at her phone.

"About 4 hours. It's a bit late for you to get back to your dorm, so the hospital will be taking care of you tonight. But we wanted to stay to see you when you woke up." Uiharu felt relieved, but also annoyed that she forced her friends to take care of her due to her inability to protect herself.

"Well, ok. You guys probably should head back," noted Uiharu. "I don't want you guys getting in trouble for staying past curfew due to me." The others nodded, and one by one, they left. Uiharu felt alone, and troubled. She couldn't get over herself for being so easily knocked out.

"Why can't I protect even myself?!" she cried. "I am pathetic, all I can do is sit behind a desk guiding the others, while they are busy fighting the bad guys!" She began to cry, tears rolling down her soft cheeks when there was a knock on her door. She wiped her eyes.

"Come in." she said meekly. Soon, she got a look at the person. It was a girl, with crimson red hair, slightly taller than her, and with blue eyes. Uiharu gasped.

"You are the girl from earlier!" stated Uiharu. She calmed herself down. "I should be thanking you for helping me out earlier." She bowed, but the girl chuckled.

"No need to thank me, it was my pleasure. It's rare that I can use my ability to help someone in need out." The girl brushed her hair to the side. "By the way, my name is Aki." She thrust her hand out to shake Uiharu's. Uiharu nodded.

"Nice to meet you Aki. My name is Uiharu Kazari. So what is your ability?" Aki frowned, but not at the question. Uiharu looked out the window and saw it begun to rain.

"Before I answer you question, what is your ability?" asked Aki. "It looked like those guys earlier didn't give you a chance to defend yourself." Uiharu nodded.

"Yeah. My ability is thermal hand, and I am only Level 1." Aki chuckled, to Uiharu's amazement. "What are you finding funny?"

"Nothing Uiharu, it's just thermal hand is so underwhelming of a name. And it isn't even correct if you ask me." Uiharu looked at her.

"How so, all I can do is maintain the temperature of objects." Aki shook her head.

"You and I are similar, as I also have what Academy City's elite call Thermal Hands." Uiharu was dumbfounded. How was Aki able to take the Skill-Out gang with Thermal Hand? It didn't seem possible. But Aki saw that Uiharu wasn't following.

"I can explain. Thermal Hand is just the Level 1 name for what I call 'Wavelength Modification'." Uiharu listened, interested to learn more. "Since the temperature of objects can be determined by its wavelength, a person can modify the wavelength of the object. But at Level 1, it is mistaken to be a minor ability and thus it is written off." Aki sat down, as she knew it would take a while to explain.

"For instance, if you had a match in your hand, you could maintain the match's heat, but if you get more powerful, you can adjust it, even from a considerable distance. Also, modifying wavelength isn't limited to heat. You can modify sound waves, by adjusting the frequency of the sound." Uiharu interrupted.

"But how were you able to take down those men? I didn't hear anything, and those men with the Molotov Cocktails had their bottles shatter." Aki laughed.

"Observant you are. But let's think. For the sound, I took noise that was too low for humans to hear and increased the pitch of it in the first guy's ear, thus acting like a siren. For the bottles shattering, you can shatter bottles with sound. It also helped that they had a loose liquid in those bottles, it only served to amplify what I was doing." Uiharu was amazed. Here was someone with her ability, and able to not only protect herself, but able to be aggressive when needed.

"Can you help me then?" asked Uiharu. "I am tired of being Level 1, and I can't help my friends out." Aki looked at her, with eyes like that of a caring mother.

"Sure, but note that when you get to Level 4, all I can do I give advice." Uiharu was confused.

"Wait, what level are you Aki?" Aki shrugged.

"I was Level 4, but after an accident, I am now a Level 3." Uiharu saw Aki's hand go to her rib cage. Aki noticed this.

"I got into a fight with a powerful esper while doing research on how to become Level 5. He broke a couple of my ribs, and I also lost some of my calculation ability. As a result, I am fearful of trying to push my limits, for if I miscalculate, I could do more damage to myself." Uiharu was shocked, that Aki was open about this.

"So Aki, where do you go to school?' asked Uiharu, trying to change subject for Aki. Apparently, Aki caught on to this.

"Well, I begin at Tokiwadai Middle School tomorrow." Uiharu managed to keep her cool. _So she is the new student that Misaka meant._ "But I was privately schooled by my family." Uiharu then realized she didn't mention her family name.

"So what is your family name?" asked Uiharu, but upon uttering this question, she knew it was a personal question base on the shocked looked of Aki.

"I rather not talk about my family. They are scientist, the whole lot of them, and they don't deserve the respect they are given most of the time. Also it brings up some memories that I have tried to keep down." Uiharu nodded, thinking of the time that Misaka was acting strange. She didn't want to bring up terrible memories for Aki if she could avoid it. Aki looked at the time on the clock.

"Well, it is getting late; I got to go to my dorm. How about we hangout tomorrow, that way I can help with you Leveling up?" Uiharu nodded.

"Hm! Sure thing. See you tomorrow!" and with that Aki left, leaving Uiharu feeling better. _Someone is going to help me with my ability! _With that heartwarming though, Uiharu fell asleep, looking forward to tomorrow.

/\\\

Uiharu was on her way her meeting Aki. She remembered her talk with her.

"_Remember, meet me at the park, I have something planned to help with you." _

"_Alright then, see you at the park!"_

When she arrived at the park, she saw Aki sitting on a bench with a lighter, a thermostat, and a notebook. Uiharu waved at Aki.

"Hi Aki. Um, what's with the stuff?" asked Uiharu, having never seen such an unusual display of objects. Aki laughed.

"This is to help me gauge how best to train you," stated Aki. "After all, it is hard to help you train if I don't know what you can do." She handed Uiharu the lighter.

"Now Uiharu, I want you to see how high you can maintain the temperature of an object." Uiharu was hesitant, as after all it was an open flame. But Aki smiled, giving Uiharu the confidence she needed. She took the lighter in her hand, and let the flame kiss her skin. At first, she was able to maintain the heat, but after a minute, the heat began to cause a bit of pain for Uiharu. She dropped the lighter in pain.

But this didn't bother Aki. In fact, she laughed.

"Pretty good Uiharu. Much better than me when I was level 1!" noted Aki. "I could only last 30 seconds due to my skin being so soft! Alright, now take this thermostat." She handed Uiharu, and Uiharu grabbed ahold of it. She noted that it was cold, but not painfully so. But she looked at Aki, who was restraining the urge to laugh.

"what is funny Aki?" asked Uiharu. Aki then broke down laughing.

"Inside that thermostat is liquid Nitrogen!" Uiharu dropped the thermos, all the while Aki was rolling on the ground.

"That isn't funny!" remarked Uiharu. "I could've gotten frostbite or even worse!" But Aki kept smiling.

"Oh I know I shouldn't have, but if you don't push your limits, how are you going to improve. Besides, I figured that you were having an issue with blocking your fears out." Uiharu looked up.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Aki emptied the thermos.

"Fear is the number one reason most espers don't get past Level 1. They see something, think they can't deal with it, and give up before even trying." She wrote down some notes. "But also, the second most common reason for failing to rise in Level is a lack of understanding one's ability. This causes more to struggle needlessly. Thus, I intend to have you level up to a similar program I used to get to Level 4, and hopefully you can surpass me." Uiharu was amazed, as Aki made the idea of leveling up simple and not convoluted. But she was confused as to why Aki would want Uiharu to surpass her.

"Now Uiharu, I want to see you stamina, and also I want to test you calculation ability." Said Aki. Uiharu sighed, now realizing that Aki was going to drill her unlike her teacher.

/\\\

"Argh, I am so tired," sighed Uiharu. It was now late in the afternoon, with the sun beating down on her neck. But Aki was calm as ever. She was reviewing Uiharu's performance, and from her face it looked like Uiharu would have a lot of training to do.

"Alright Uiharu," began Aki. "I see where you need to improve. You need to focus a bit in your calculation ability, a proverbial shit-ton in your stamina, and you need to better understand the models behind your ability." Uiharu sighed again.

"Am I screwed?" she asked Aki. Aki shook her head.

"Nah, you are at least doing better than I was when I began to train. But also, you have me to help you understand how to understand your ability." She gave Uiharu a smile. "Just think of this. By the time you get the next System Scan, you should be Level Two with me as your trainer." She was about to leave when she remembered something.

"Oh Uiharu, Tokiwadai is about to start a new training program, with the Level 4 esper training Levels 1 and 2. You want to officially be my trainee?" Uiharu's eyes shined with joy.

"Yes! Please, I need the training!" Uiharu remembered how yesterday Aki said she was Level 3. "Are you going to be able to train me, with you being Level 3 and no longer Level 4?" Aki nodded, though Uiharu saw Aki frown a little.

"Yeah, Tokiwadai is going to allow me to train you, despite having fallen down to Level 3, due to having been a Level 4." But she cheered up, seeing how Uiharu was caring for her. "Don't worry; everything is going to be alright." Aki turned and left.

/\\\

Uiharu arrived at her dorm, and put down her bag on her bed. She was looking forward to being Aki's guidance, but she wasn't confident about being able to Level up. She remembered how it took Misaka, now a Level 5 electromaster, to get from being a Level 1. It took her years to master her ability, so how was Uiharu going to Level up with such a limited idea of her power?

_Wavelength Modification? How did Aki jump to that conclusion when she was training? Wasn't Thermal Hand a fairly useless ability, according to Aki? So who taught Aki how to modify wavelengths? _

Then Uiharu had an epiphany; what the heck constituted being able to modify wavelengths? She groaned, knowing that she needed to get sleep for tomorrow's training with Aki. She looked at the clock, and it read 10 pm.

"Now is probably time for me to get some sleep," muttered Uiharu. She got into her night clothes, and turned off the light. However, she couldn't rest for any length of time, due to be unable to wrap her head around Aki's apperant mastery of wavelength modification. She looked at her hand, seeing how they were only to keep things at their current temperature. She clenched her fist, annoyed that she was too weak now to be of any use to her friends in the field. She rolled over, with one final thought before forcing herself to sleep.

_I will not falter, I shall rise up!_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Training and Stalking

Uiharu woke up, feeling more tired than when she went to sleep. Her mind was trying to grasp everything that Aki mentioned about Wavelength Modification. She tried to keep it simple, but every time Uiharu tried to apply it in her mind, it didn't work. She didn't understand the correlation between wavelengths and her Thermal Hands.

Admitting defeat for now, Uiharu got up and grabbed a glass with water. She figured that it be better if she simply listen to Aki's advice later than trying to solve it on her own for now. She thought about what she would have to do today. _Go to prepared for the day, meet up with Aki, probably do some back log work at Judgment, come home, do homework, sleep. _Uiharu looked forward to meeting up with Aki, as she would probably have something planned. She knew she had to meet Aki at the park again, so she needed to get going soon.

Uiharu grab the left over rice she made last night, made some rice balls (filled with carrot, shredded lettuce, and soy sauce), grabbed a bottle of water, and got her favorite flower headband. The flowers weren't real, but they looked real enough so it cheered Uiharu up. She left her dorm, and began walking to the bus stop.

/\/\/\

/\/\/\

"Hello Aki!" said Uiharu, while waving at her. Aki waved back, smiling. Uiharu approached, and saw that Aki only brought a notepad. Aki was wearing timer around her neck, and also had her hair tied up, as the wind was blowing hard today.

"So Uiharu, ready for today's lessons?" asked Aki. Uiharu nodded, wondering what was in store.

"Yes Aki-senpai!" Aki laughed at this, but she grabbed a lighter from her pocket.

"Remember how yesterday I had you holding this?" asked Aki. Uiharu frowned at her.

"Do I look like an airhead? Of course I remembered! I also remember it hurting." Aki shrugged off Uiharu's comment. She then pointed at her body. "So how much of a difference do you think there is between my body temperature and the lighter's fire?"

Uiharu paused. _Probably a lot, as the fire burnt me. _

"I say about ten times hotter," said Uiharu. "I mean, wouldn't that make sense?" Aki shook her head.

"Think about it. You are saying that the lighter's flame is ten times hotter than your body. But if you think about it that would mean that you are saying the flames are about 370 degrees Celsius. That is 100 degrees below what the surface temperature of Venus." Uiharu felt depressed. But Aki laughed.

"I am not saying you overshot it. I am actually saying you undershot it, by about 1000 degrees." Uiharu felt stupid. How could a simple flame be so hot? Aki saw the look in Uiharu's eyes.

"Don't feel bad. Your body temperature is 37 degrees Celsius. The boiling point for water is 100 degrees. Lava is about 1000 degrees, and a lightning bolt is about 28000 degrees. But temperature is only one part of wavelength modification." Uiharu was struggling to keep up. _How can she rattle these numbers off and even understand what they mean? And how is blowing my mind going to help me?_

Aki got up and threw her lighter into the nearby river. Uiharu, always thinking about her job at Jugdement, tried to go after the lighter.

"You can't just litter the city!" yelped Uiharu. "It's against the law!" But Aki laughed.

"I wasn't throwing it in the river for shits and giggles. I was going to make a point." Uiharu stopped.

"Huh, what point Aki-senpai?" asked Uiharu. Aki pointed to the river.

"Noticed how the water ripples?" Uiharu nodded, wondering what Aki was getting after. "Water is a great way to demonstrate the basic idea of wavelengths. The water moves outward, and depending on what you dropped, its forms a constant wave. But for our sake, we are thinking about something not visible. But if you can visualize what you are trying to manipulate, it helps tenfold." Aki walked over to Uiharu, placing her hand on her shoulder.

"What I am going to get you to do is be able to determine an object's wavelength, modify it to your purpose, and use it in a variety of situations." Uiharu felt a shiver run down her spine, but she was wanting to get stronger, for her other friends' sakes. "And for that, I am going to insist that you follow my basic instructions carefuly." Uiharu nodded.

"First thing first, you need to get in shape. If you are out of shape and attempt to do sound wavelength modification, you will cause tremendous damage to yourself. So I want you to run around the park ten times, and then return to me." Uiharu was about to go when Aki stopped her. "Oh, before you go, I want you to figure this out; how was I able to leave those men unburnt when we first met?"

Uiharu began running, trying to figure out Aki's questions. _Fire burns hot, much hotter than the human body. Yet they weren't burnt to a crisp. She couldn't have increased their body temperature, as a fever is only 40 degrees, and that would have killed them. But I don't see how she lowered the flame's temperature. So did she snuff out the flames? How, I don't think that her ability would enable her to stop the flames._

Uiharu kept trying to answer the question, only coming back to the start. She was tired, but her mind was too focused on trying to deal with Aki's question. She kept thinking, and despite her legs wanting to give out, she kept moving forward, trying to understand Aki's ability. She finally got down with the ten laps, but without figuring out how Aki did it. She saw Aki was coming over, and she felt the dread of failure coming on.

"So Uiharu, have you figured it out yet?" asked Aki. Uiharu sighed, and shook her head.

"No Aki-senpai. I don't know you didn't raise the men's temperature to be equal to the flame, but after that, I don't know." Uiharu was expecting Aki to insult her, but instead Aki smiled.

"Its alright Uiharu, the answer isn't obvious." Aki paused, looking out to the river. "I modified the flame's temperature at the bottom, thus preventing them from burning. The flames at top were burning at the expected 1379 degrees, but the bottom was a relatively cool 37 degrees."

Uiharu was shocked. _So she did modify the flames?_ But Uiharu wonder why not the entire flame.

"Aki-senpai, why didn't you affect the entire fire?" Aki cracked her knuckles before answering.

"Well, if I had altered the fire completely, it would cease being fire. Fire requires fuel and energy to burn. If I took away the heat from the flames, it couldn't consume the oxygen it needed, and would've gone out before those men passed out from fear." Uiharu stepped back, now fearful of Aki's ability. But Aki laughed, which calmed Uiharu down. "Don't worry, I am not going to light you on fire, that would be a waste of time. But in a battle, you must use everything to your advantage. If you must terrorize your enemy, then do so."

Uiharu thought upon those words. _If you must terrorize your enemy, then do so. But why, wouldn't it be better to not have to act? Wouldn't it be better to use my ability for the benefit of others? But then, why do I feel useless when Kuroko goes to apprehend a thug? Is it because I can't stop them as it stands?_

Aki saw Uiharu's thoughts. _Good, let her fears of being unable to defend her friends be her motivation. _Aki looked at Academy City's skyline. She felt a certain disgust looking at the skyline. It made her remembered the dark days of her past. Of when she was dealing with loss, pain, and having her mind ripped apart. _Why can't I rid myself of these memories? Why must I deal with them?_

"Hey Uiharu," started Aki, trying to get the memories out of her head. "How about you do some more laps, while I ask you to complete some calculations?" Uiharu nodded, and they began training in earnest.

/\/\/\

/\/\/\

"Argh. Aki-senpai, did you seriously expect me to solve those equations on the fly?" huffed Uiharu, feeling like her mind was numb and her legs like jelly. Aki laughed.

"It's a start Uiharu. You aren't going to be a Level 2, much less a Level 4, if you don't train both physically and mentally. I know some trainers prefer to train their subjects by doing calculations, and then exercise, or vice versa. But my method is more applicable. If you can't think while under stress, then you can't expect to reach your maximum potential." Uiharu was wondering where Aki got her training idea's from.

"Say Aki, who taught you the limits of your ability?" asked Uiharu, while stretching your legs. "I doubt you did it on your own." Aki remained quiet for a bit. She appeared to be lost in thought. But before Uiharu could say something, Aki answered.

"Well, as you know, my family is into science, and so they trained me. Or at least my uncle did. My parents died when I was young. My uncle was a very proficient esper trainer, and he would've become head of the family if he didn't get killed." Uiharu saw tears rolling down Aki's cheeks, as well as her voice becoming more shallow and low. "He taught me how to become a Level 4, but it was one of his students that lead to me now being only Level 3. I can remember his face when he learned I couldn't do anything above Level 3. His eyes were burning with anger or disgust, I couldn't tell. But after that, he stopped training me, and I don't blame him. My family has high standard, so he couldn't waste his time with me."

Aki at this point was trembling, on the verge of collapse. Uiharu got up and hugged her. She let Aki cry on her shoulder.

"I am sorry," said Uiharu. "I didn't mean to bring up these memories for you." Uiharu just stood there, waiting for Aki to calm down. After a minute, Aki wiped the tears from her face. She still was trembling, but it had decreased.

"Thanks, and it's not your fault Uiharu. It just the memory was painful," Aki turned to look on her watch. "Oh god, it was later than I thought it was. I got to go; I have to finish unpacking my things. I will see you soon Uiharu." Aki began walking away. Uiharu then looked at her PDA, and saw that she still had an hour to kill before going the Judgment office. _Might as well grab a bite to eat._

/\/\/\

/\/\/\

It was now late in the afternoon, and Uiharu was regretting getting something to eat before reporting. She got heartburn from the soup she ordered, and now she was running around, trying to find a missing boy. _Why can't Kuroko just teleport to where the kid is? It's not like she doesn't know the mall, she knows it pretty well, considering how much we have to patrol it._

Uiharu was checking each store quickly, but the burning sensation was distracting her. A couple of times she swore she missed the kid, and had to double back to make sure she didn't miss him. She felt like she was missing something, so she grabbed her PDA to confirm the kid's appearance.

_About 139 cm tall, green eyes, black hair, wearing a red jacket, and wearing glasses. About 9 years old. Damn it, save for the eyes, everything else is pretty much average. Why can't this day go better? _Uiharu sighed, annoyed with not finding the kid. She phone Kuroko.

"Kuroko, have you found the boy that went missing?" Uiharu heard Kuroko sigh.

"Yeah, about ten minutes ago. Sorry for not informing you. He was at the game arcade center, in the back corner. Thankfully, his mother picked him up shortly after I found him, so all it well." Uiharu seethed silently. She was glad to hear the kid was fine, but still, to fail again so soon got on her nerve.

"Alright Kuroko, any other reports?" asked Uiharu. "I am in front of the Seventh Mist." She heard Kuroko checking her PDA. A minute later, Kuroko replied.

"Nope. Well come back to the station, we have back logged work to catch up on." Uiharu sighed. She knew that the work was mostly filing and reorganizing old case files, working on cases that went dead, or trying to figure out if a case has any relevance to another.

Uiharu was about to return to the station when she overheard two men talking.

"Hey, how do you think the boss is going to react to hearing Aki is working behind the family's back," said the first man. He was tall, black hair, and wearing a lab coat.

"My guess, probably going to see how it goes," replied the second man. He was blonde with shades on. "The boss is willingly to see those that stray from the family if they bring potential. Also Aki was trained by the best. If her training some Level One is important to her, then most likely the boss will stand back and try some to get some angle to take advantage of the situation." Uiharu decided to follow, silencing her phone and setting her PDA to record the conversation.

The men were walking out of the mall, towards District 7. Uiharu made sure to keep them within range of the recorder, but also to keep hidden. The men didn't appear to know she was there and continued talking.

"So what about the other projects?" asked the first guy. "How does the boss plan to remove the threats to the family?" He was looked calm, but Uiharu noticed his left hand shaking slightly. _Whatever he was talking about has him stressed._

"The whole family is thinking on how to deal with the threats. But let focus on getting the package before it gets dark, I don't want to deal with punkass Espers at night." The second guy was periodically looking around, but he didn't seem to notice anything.

They walked for about 10 minutes before arriving at a warehouse. Uiharu hid behind a broken down van, hoping to see what the men were picking up. She peered from the corner to see the two men greeted by some members of Skill-Out.

"Hey, you got the money?" asked the most notable Skill-Out member. "It wasn't easy making sure that your 'package' got into the city without Anti-Skill or Judgment catching wind. We lost a lot of men in the diversion; it had better be worth it." The First man smiled.

"Of course it is. Eventually, this package will be seen as the catalyst to ending this city's issues." He tucked the package, which appeared to be a simple yellow package about the size of a book, into his coat. "But I never intended to pay you." Before the Skill-Out members could react, the second man pulled out a gun and shot each of them in the neck. Uiharu covered her motuh, trying not to scream. But when she dared to look, she didn't see blood. The two men were chuckling.

"Ah, all in a day's work eh?" said the first. "But couldn't we have shot them?" The second shook his head.

"Bodies are hard to explain, plus I wanted to test this concoction. Its an anesthetic that has a die effect of causing the subject to lose memory of what they were doing fives hour prior to be injected. Very useful." The first man laughed.

"Well now, remind me to have you use that on me when I go to my inlaws." Both men laughed at this, and Uiharu decided that she better get out of the area. She used the van as cover, and she ran down an alleyway that would have her come out near her branch's officer.

She wondered what the men were up to, and who this family was. She knew Aki was connected, but she doubt that Aki would actually belong to a family where they didn't have a problem with harming people, to the point where they seemed to enjoy it. But she remembered Aki's face. _Maybe that's why she didn't bring it up, maybe she didn't want to be held in the same regard as those men. _

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"Huh, noticed the girl," said the first guy. The second guy glared at him, annoyed with his companion.

"How the hell couldn't I? But at least we know she isn't an idiot. Maybe Aki sees something in her, so it's worth reporting to the boss that the girl is sharp. She was able to keep up with us and remained mostly undetected." The second guy sighed. "But too bad for her, he little PDA gave her away, and thankfully, I brought insurance." He pulled out a small device.

"This little jammer will erase anything she had saved on that PDA, and also take all that data. We can hear what she heard later, but for now, let's get out of here. These Skill Out punks are nothing but trash anyway."

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**Author's note: Ah, each chapter keeps getting longer. This one was nearly 3000 words. Better make sure it doesn't exceed a certain length, for you guy's sakes. I don't want you guys seeing a wall of text that makes mere mortals shrink away in terror. Anyway, either follow, favorite, or review this story. I am up for suggestions.**


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